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<TITLE>[Chapter 1] 1.5 The java.util Package</TITLE>
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<h2 CLASS=sect1><A CLASS="TITLE" NAME="JFC-CH-1-SECT-5">1.5 The java.util Package</A></h2>

<P CLASS=para>
The <tt CLASS=literal>java.util</tt> package contains 
a number of useful classes and interfaces that support fundamental
data structures and notification-related design patterns. Java depends 
directly on several of the classes in this package, and you may
find many of these indispensable. 

<P CLASS=para>
A number of classes in <tt CLASS=literal>java.util</tt> are designed to
help you manage a collection of objects. For example, the
<tt CLASS=literal>Vector</tt> class supports variable-length arrays
of objects, while the <tt CLASS=literal>Hashtable</tt> class
can be used to create hashtables, or associative arrays, that 
contain key/value pairs of objects.
In addition, the <tt CLASS=literal>Enumeration</tt> interface defines
methods for iterating through a collection of elements.
<A HREF="ch05_01.htm">Chapter 5, <i>Collections</i></A>, provides more detailed information on using these
classes effectively in your Java programs.

<P CLASS=para>
The <tt CLASS=literal>StringTokenizer</tt> class parses strings into distinct tokens separated by
delimiter characters. This class is described in more detail
in <A HREF="ch02_01.htm">Chapter 2, <i>Strings and Related Classes</i></A>.

<P CLASS=para>
The <tt CLASS=literal>java.util</tt> package contains a number of 
new classes in Java 1.1 to support internationalization.
Many of these classes work in conjuction with the classes
defined in the new <tt CLASS=literal>java.text</tt> package.
The most important new class is the 
<tt CLASS=literal>Locale</tt> class, which represents
a particular locale, or country and language, for
internationalization purposes. 
The new <tt CLASS=literal>Calendar</tt> and 
<tt CLASS=literal>TimeZone</tt> classes interpret 
the value of a <tt CLASS=literal>Date</tt>
object in the context of a particular calendar system; 
the <tt CLASS=literal>Date</tt> class existed in Java 1.0.2, but
many of its methods are deprecated in Java 1.1. 
Finally, the <tt CLASS=literal>ResourceBundle</tt> class and its subclasses,
<tt CLASS=literal>ListResourceBundle</tt> and
<tt CLASS=literal>PropertyResourceBundle</tt>, represent
sets of localized data in Java 1.1.

<P CLASS=para>
Two other new entities in <tt CLASS=literal>java.util</tt> are
the <tt CLASS=literal>EventObject</tt> class and the
<tt CLASS=literal>EventListener</tt> interface. These items 
form the basis of the new event model in Java 1.1.

<P CLASS=para>
See <A HREF="ch17_01.htm">Chapter 17, <i>The java.util Package</i></A>, for complete reference material on all of the
classes in the <tt CLASS=literal>java.util</tt> package.

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